Learning at the Teaching Academy

Instructors and professors at the college of business got a chance to extend their own learning as the Teaching Academy got underway on Nov. 9 in Sonner Hall. Each semester’s session brings a new opportunity to increase their understanding of classroom techniques and ideas to enhance their effectiveness as educators.

Co-organizers CIS/BSAN professor Scott Stevens and accounting associate professor Bob Richardson strive to put on a program that will both engage and challenge. With more than 30 faculty attending this time, Stevens says, “We’ve been lucky with the academy; from the beginning, we’ve had the support of both the faculty and the dean’s office.”

This time the group heard from economics professor Bill Wood, who led a spirited discussion on “gender bias, ‘hotness,’ and ‘easiness’ in evaluating teaching” and how student perspectives differ from those of professors when it comes to what is considered good teaching.

A new, brief ‘bullet point’ discussion concept made its debut, with Luis Novoa de Oro of CIS/BSAN presenting an overview of powerful recent additions to Excel that might be used to provide students with an introduction to data analytics.

“We wanted the Teaching Academy to be a place where the instructional faculty could learn new things, share their experiences with others, and rediscover the excitement that comes from good teaching,” Stevens notes, “and Friday’s academy was a success on all of these fronts. We’re happy that our COB teachers continue to find the meetings worthwhile.”

They are planning a session of the academy in the spring that will be following up on some of the ideas from Bill Wood’s discussion.